With a big day ahead, let’s get to our Robert Bryczek-Ihor Potieria pick, odds and preview. Be sure to check out the rest of our UFC articles, including our full-card breakdown, and or our betting model’s top picks
Robert Bryczek-Ihor Potieria Pick, Odds and Preview
Robert Bryczek-Ihor Potieria Odds
Odds via DraftKings
Weight Class: Middleweight
Bryczek: -165 | Potieria: +130
Bryczek -3.5: -145 | Potieria +3.5: +110
Over 1.5: +200 | Under 1.5: -270
Robert Bryczek-Ihor Potieria Pick & Preview
Robert Bryczek (17-5) makes his UFC debut against Ihor Potieria (20-5) in a fight that bookmakers anticipate will be full of fireworks.
There is very little information to go off of in this fight, particularly on Bryczek’s side, so I’m not putting too much money on this one.
Given Potieria’s relative advantage in terms of experience and his performance in promotions outside of the UFC, I would have him as the slight favorite. The books have him as an underdog. For that reason, riding him in the plus money is the only play I would make.
One of the benefits of examining a fighter who has an extensive career in the UFC is that their statistics tend to carry more weight than those with shorter resumes.
When it comes to Bryczek, there is little to no data to go off of when it comes to his efficiency, his output or his overall success. What little tape there is of him reveals him to be a fluid and aggressive striker with a lot of power. However, going off of the eye test isn’t necessarily a great idea when it comes to betting on the UFC. Looks can be deceiving, especially when a fighter leaps up in competition.
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His counterpart in this fight, Potieria, is a perfect case study as to why I weigh a fighter’s performance in the UFC much more than I do their performance outside of the league. Fighting in the UFC is hard, usually much harder than fighting in other organizations. The only exceptions I make are for ONE or Bellator, which have a lot of fighters on their roster of UFC caliber.
Before entering the UFC, Potieria was on a 14-fight winning streak with many first-round victories. Things looked even better when he won his first fight in Dana White’s Contender Series, which earned him a full UFC contract. However, since entering the UFC, he has struggled, going 1-3 with three KO defeats. However, his lone victory was an impressive one against the legendary Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Predicting how Bryczek will do in the UFC is made even more tricky by his struggles in Oktagon, in which he went 4-3. While he comes into this fight on a five-fight winning streak, it’s difficult to determine how meaningful that is, if at all.
With Potieria’s success in his professional fights outside of the UFC compared to Bryczek’s struggles — and Potieria’s victory over a legend (albeit one well past his prime) — I would have given him the slight edge. Since he is an underdog, that’s the only play I advise for this one.
Best UFC Robert Bryczek-Ihor Potieria Pick: Ihor Potieria ML +130 at DraftKings
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